1. Field
The invention relates to image display devices. In particular, the invention relates to such display devices that are removably secured to refrigerator doors or other paramagnetic surfaces.
2. Related Art
Photo holiday greeting cards have become very popular. During the holiday season, the typical household refrigerator door becomes cluttered with these cards, precariously held to the surface with an assortment of inadequate magnets. The eventual result is a disorganized mess, much of which ends up on the floor at the slightest touch or opening of the refrigerator door.
Currently, the most common solution for organizing and displaying photo cards is to place them under a refrigerator magnet as the cards are received. Commonly, the recipient runs out of magnets before the cards stop arriving and the individual magnets start being used to hold more than one card, ultimately creating a frustrating mess. Since the magnets are not designed to typically hold more than one item securely, using the magnet to hold two or more items is typically a temporary situation at best. Opening of the refrigerator door is more than likely to result in dislodging the magnet, causing the items to drop to the floor. Additionally, upon removing the items at the end of a season, one must secure additional storage to hold the items, including photos and cards, and, either leave the magnets on the refrigerator or store the magnets in another location.
Another alternative solution is the use of adhesive magnetic backing. This is a permanent treatment which is applied to individual items. This approach requires additional manual intervention, requires more effort by a user, depends on ready availability of a supply of the adhesive magnetic backing strips, fails to readily organize the cards and is expensive when dealing with multiple pieces.
A further solution is a multi-opening, collage-style frame that can be taken apart, filled with photos and then placed magnetically on the door of a refrigerator. This solution also requires a greater amount of effort, has a limited capacity, and is not adaptable to hold a range of items with different sizes. Another drawback is that one must have all photos on hand when the frame is being filled. Otherwise, as each photo is added, the frame must be disassembled, the photo added and positioned, other photos repositioned, and then the frame is reassembled. Frequently, it is necessary to hold each photo in position using tape or other adhesive before assembling the frame. Further, the frame size is fixed and cannot be folded or rolled for easier compact storage. Additionally, the weight of the frame itself, even when not filled with photos or cards, can be substantial. This additional weight may require significantly larger magnets to hold the frame on the refrigerator door. Still further, the filled frame is more likely to dislodge whenever opening or closing the refrigerator door due to the additional weight. Once dislodged, the frame is likely to fall to the floor and be damaged, preventing further use.
A wide variety of holding apparatus that are attachable to some type of vertical surface, such as a refrigerator door or the like, are known. However, those known lack a configuration readily suitable for application to the refrigerator door and then subsequent storage. In addition, those known do not provide a gallery effect that continually provides a streamlined organized look during the entire time the display is being filled with items.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,797,146 to Holes discloses an album with multiple album pages having rectangular transparent strips to form upwardly opening pockets to hold photos. However, the invention of Holes is not adaptable for ready attachment to a refrigerator door, does not provide an open display readily visible for viewing, and instead requires that one open and page through the album.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,351,813 to Golovan discloses a holding apparatus for relatively small items for attachment to a vertical surface such as a refrigerator door. The disclosure of Golovan is designed to provide attachable compartments for holding a plurality of different items and thus, is not intended to provide an aesthetically pleasing display while it is being filled with items.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,916,650 to Grant discloses another method for displaying a photograph or other item next a surface such as a refrigerator door wherein the holding mechanism is a resilient monolithic plastic sheet display cover which is removably adherent to the surface chosen. Grant's display cover and method is generally intended to support only one photo rather than a plurality.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,578,304 to Grant discloses a magnetic frame for displaying an object such as a photograph or other item on magnetically attractive surfaces, such as a refrigerator, cabinet or the like. The disclosure of Grant only addresses the display of a single photo and requires a separate envelope for enclosure of the photo wherein the envelope includes a flat magnetic sheet that is used to adhere the image and envelope to the surface.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/369,750 to Lapesky et al describes a magnetic photo gallery comprised of two separate magnetic sheets to display a collage of photographs. Each photograph is sandwiched between the magnetic sheets and cannot be easily removed without disturbing the remainder of the photos encased between the magnetic sheets. The invention of Lapesky does not allow one photo to be removed at a time. Additionally, the invention of Lapesky discloses a constrained set of frames that would preclude organizing photos in a plurality of different ways.
Consequently, there exists a substantial unmet need for a display solution that is inexpensive and easily accessible to serve as a neat and decorative platform to receive and display photos, cards and other paper documents as they arrive throughout a season. There exists a further need for such a platform to be constructed to roll or fold to store neatly away when not in use. It would be desirable for the existing photos, cards or items to likewise be stored with the platform when the platform is folded or rolled for storage. There exists a further need for the platform to provide a large surface area for displaying cards, photos and other items yet still be easily applied and easily removed from the mounting surface, e.g., a refrigerator door. There exists a further need for the platform to accept a multitude of various sized and shaped inserts while still maintaining a secure, organized, and streamlined appearance. There exists a further need for the platform to allow the insertion or removal of one or more photos or items without disturbing the position of the remainder of the items. There exists a further need for a platform to allow a plurality of photos or items to be compressed within the holding area of the platform as the number of photos or cards received increases. There exists a further need for the platform to have the ability to adhere to other nonmagnetic surfaces such as office cubicle walls while maintaining the same functionality as the magnetic version.